# David Maurice Chevalier

> David Maurice Chevalier is the German co-founder and CEO of Paris-based Surfe. After creating a student trading game and working in banking at ODDO BHF, he studied entrepreneurship at HEC Paris and École Polytechnique. He and Romain Ginestou founded Leadjet in 2020 to connect LinkedIn with CRMs; it became Surfe and expanded into sales data enrichment. His public accounts emphasize partnerships, reducing administrative work and the development of an international team.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Surfe
- **Organizations:** Surfe, ODDO BHF, Tradity, CVM GmbH
- **Nationality:** German
- **Education:** Joint entrepreneurship degree, HEC Paris and École Polytechnique, Business administration, banking program, DHBW Mannheim, Exchange studies, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Co-founded Surfe, originally Leadjet, in 2020., Surfe reported more than €1 million ARR and 1,500 company customers at its October 2022 funding announcement., Surfe announced a €4 million seed round in October 2022.

## Career timeline

- **2011-2014** — Marketing and web design at CVM GmbH, as listed on his XING profile.
- **2013** — Online marketing and PR at Tradity listed from June 2013 on XING.
- **2014** — Started a dual banking study program with BHF-BANK and DHBW Mannheim.
- **Before 2020** — Worked as an analyst at ODDO BHF in Frankfurt, then studied entrepreneurship in Paris.
- **2020** — Co-founded Leadjet with Romain Ginestou following a university project during their Berkeley exchange.
- **2022** — Leadjet became Surfe; the company announced a €4 million seed round in October.
- **2024** — Shared the story of Surfe’s first $1 million contract and his FaceTime call with Maged Elhadad.
- **2026** — Shared the opening of Surfe’s New York office and reported approximately $15 million ARR in a public interview.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Surfe, originally Leadjet, in 2020.
- Surfe reported more than €1 million ARR and 1,500 company customers at its October 2022 funding announcement.
- Surfe announced a €4 million seed round in October 2022.
- Reported approximately $15 million ARR, 10,000 paying customers and 50,000 users in a 2026 founder interview.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Shared a visit with Romain Ginestou to Surfe’s New York office, which he said had opened the previous month.
- **2026-04** — Shared Surfe Camp in Portugal: three days with more than 50 colleagues from over 12 countries.
- **2026-07** — The Top Founders episode published July 23 presented his approximately $15 million ARR disclosure. Figures are founder-reported; the GetLatka page has inconsistent recording-date labels.

## Links

- Website: https://www.surfe.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-maurice-chevalier/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/david-maurice-chevalier
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-12